Let's not fall in love
by Honeydee
Summary: At first, it was half excitement, half worries. But in the end, it became obligation, trial and error. "Let's not fall in love, we don't know each other very well yet," he said. "Yeah? Then where do broken hearts go?" she countered. Speed dating AU.


Taichi smiled awkwardly before stood up and moved to the next table on his right. He sat on the chair and immediately had to suppress a grimace when he looked up, as he knew instantly that the two of them wouldn't hit it off. For starter, the girl in front of him was no better than the previous girl. If the previous one had been a clean freak who kept wiping the spot that Taichi touched, this one had put on a thick make up that made her looked like in her thirties. Taichi pulled his hair in frustration as event from earlier flashed in his mind.

" _SPEED DATING?!" Taichi screamed in rage as he saw the board in front of Digi Cafe. Again, his friends tricked him into one of the oldest tricks, and yet he kept falling for it._

" _Yep. Speed dating it is," Takeru and Hikari sing-songed wholeheartedly._

" _No one said anything about speed dating yesterday!"_

" _That's because you'd forfeit in a blink," his sister retorted back._

 _Taichi face palmed himself. He really did appreciate his friends' effort, really, but Taichi wasn't ready just yet. It wasn't like he hadn't overcome his broken heart phase yet, it was just, he hadn't really thought about moving on. He had a hunch why, but he didn't want to dwell on that. Hence, even if the bitterness had washed out, something uncanny was still lingering in the back, prevented him to take a rather large step forward._

" _Tai," Jou tried to reasoning him, "I know I'm not in the place to say this, but isn't it about time to move on?" Taichi's eyes widened upon hearing it. "I mean, I know you're over it already. But you haven't tried to move on yet, have you?"_

" _Listen to him, Captain," Koushiro added. "Allow us to assist you. You've done enough dribbling, let us help you to score."_

 _Taichi could see the sincere smiles on his friends' faces. His eyes landed on his sister. Hikari had been very sweet when he told her everything, around 4 months ago. She told him sympathetically that it was very courageous of him to pushed Sora to tell Yamato about her feeling, all the while ignoring his own feeling. She even cried for him because Taichi didn't even know what to feel at that time. She said she hated how he was so selfless. Tachi begged to differ though, Hikari was even more selfless than him after all._

 _Honest to god, he wasn't that miserable with his love life. He just happened to had a crush on his best friend who apparently took a liking toward his other best friend, while he was busy contemplating his own feeling and waiting for God knows what. 'Betrayal' was the first thought that came into his mind when he saw them flirting to each other right before his own eyes. But that bitter feeling in the pit of his stomach disappeared as quickly as it appeared, once he saw the genuine smile that appeared on his best friends' faces. He had feel depressed because he should had feel sad or angry instead of contented. In the end, he realized that he valued their friendship more than anything else._

 _His friends had been all but nice in trying to get him hooked with a girl ever since. These guys in front of him, they might be not his best friends, but he wouldn't trade them for the world either. He'd been through so much, from sweat to blood, together with them all. They were his teammates. He rubbed his face and sighed. His friends knew that they had won this argument and pushed him inside the cafe. Taichi could only wish that at least someone would be able to entertain him today._

The three minutes of forced conversation on his part and obvious interest on her part couldn't end soon enough. He eventually left delightedly while cursing his friends in his head for set this up for him and ditched him yet again. When he tried to sit down on the chair of the next table though, the occupant of said table stood up and bowed with a smile on her face. He bowed too then, albeit awkwardly. Once they both seated, he looked up to have a closer look on her. She was still smiling and he would be damned if he said that the smile wasn't attractive. She was, in general, attractive.

"Nice hair. You must have to spend so much gel and time to get it like that. I'm Mimi, by the way."

He picked up on her smooth effort to ease the tension and felt himself more relaxed than he had been before. He then smiled and said, "I'm Taichi, nice to meet you too. Your hair's cool, too; did you dye it?"

"You noticed?"

He shrugged, "I haven't seen anyone with such hair color."

"I dyed it bright pink before. Since most of the color had washed out, all I have is this burgundy color," she explained.

"I think it fits you just right, it makes your eyes stand out."

"Oh?" Mimi questioned, leaned forward across the table and twirling a strand of hair around her finger. "And what exactly do you think of my eyes?"

Again, he picked up on her challenge as understatement swept across his face, and it made him excited for whatever reason. He stared at her eyes and found himself trapped in the endless brown orbs. "Sincere," he said after a couple of seconds. "I think they are sincere."

She raised an eyebrow while smirking and said, "A charmer, aren't we?"

 _This could get interesting,_ he thought. Unconsciously he leaned forward too. He was smirking too, now. "Words can't do justice to describe your eyes."

She giggled then, and the sound of her giggles sounded nice to Taichi's ears. He grinned and stared at her. This girl who sat in front of him knew exactly what she was doing. If she had been anybody else, Taichi was sure she would probably be blushing. Yet, she seemed like a person who had experience with men and knew exactly how to control herself. She let a small smile played across her face. "That's your pick up line? Boy, you're lucky you're hot," she winked at him.

"Try me," he challenged.

"You sound confident. Let's hear it then."

He studied her for a while then replied, "You have a nice smile. You should smile all the time."

She laughed. "What makes you think I don't smile all the time?"

"If you did," he reached across the table to tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "you'd have men flocking to you. You wouldn't need to go to speed dating, believe me."

Mimi leaned into his touch without even realizing. "And what about you?" she countered. "Surely someone like you has girls throwing themselves at your feet?"

"Yeah…" he averted his gaze, as he was sure he looked hurt, "but there had only one woman I'm interested in. And as I remain convinced that she won't have me, I missed my chance."

Don't get him wrong. Taichi was the jock of Odaiba High's soccer club. He was the captain and he had lead the team to championship for two years in a row. He even earned himself a scholarship to University S, that known for their athletic achievements throughout the country. Boys admired him. Girls asked him out, only to be turned down because he simply wasn't interested. This had been going on for at least a year now. Ever since he realized his feeling for Sora around a year ago, he stopped go on dates randomly.

Mimi was frowning now. "She must be blind. I don't see how anybody could turn down someone as charming and handsome as you."

He looked at her and suddenly couldn't seem to keep his eyes away from her eyes as he replied, "She hasn't turned me down yet. I just haven't been able to tell her how amazing I think she is." There were a hint of little bitterness and sadness in his voice. He couldn't lie, after all. Not to those eyes that seemed like it can see right through you. Funny how he had tell his deepest secret to someone who he had just met.

"Then you should tell her. Believe me, it's her loss if she turns you down. Seize the opportunity that you've got."

He chuckled bitterly. "I already lost it," he said with a soft tone. "I know she's happier now. They're happy together. And it makes me happy too, as their friend." He looked at her. He saw how her brows furrowed and he understood very well that she pitied him. Exactly why he didn't want other people outside his peer to know about this revelation. "I overcame it though, eventually."

That seemed to perked her interest. "Then why?"

She didn't has to finish the sentence as he knew already the meaning that lied behind those simple words. He shrugged, "It's not easy to shift. It feels like there's something that prevented me to move on."

She stared at him knowingly. They spent a few moments in silence. She observed him with interest.

"I still think that you should tell her," she suddenly spoke.

"You think I should?"

"Definitely," she simply answered before leaned back casually in her chair. He raised an eyebrow. His expression made her smile. "After all, you wouldn't be able to see what's in front of you if you kept looking back."

They'd both been leaning slowly towards each other as they'd spoken. Mimi's eyes were fixed on his, and his were fixed on hers as well. His voice is barely a whisper when he said, "Then maybe I will…"

As his words seemed to caught in his throat, the sound of a bell ringed to signal that the three minutes was up and it was also the time for the men to move on to the next waiting lady. Taichi cursed under his breath. Was that really a whole three minutes?

Mimi stood up and bowed again. "It was wonderful to meet you, Taichi. I hope you and I can see each other again."

He laughed and stood up to bowing as well. "I hope so too." There was a moment when neither of them speak, both just contented in each other's company. "Hey listen, thanks for hearing me out. I'm sure you haven't bummed out like that before." Taichi rubbed his neck awkwardly.

She chuckled. "It's okay. It makes me know you better." She winked at him.

He smiled at her and softly said, "Until next time," before moved on to the next table. He sat on the chair with a little contended smile on his face. He couldn't describe the new yet familiar feeling in the pit of his stomach. He started to think that this whole speed dating idea wasn't too bad after all.


End file.
